Plaint filed against Humayun Kabir over ‘communal provocation’, attempt to ‘polarise voters’

Kolkata: Fresh legal trouble has mounted for Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) chairman Humayun Kabir in the backdrop of a written complaint being lodged against him at Birbhum’s Suri Police Station on Friday night on charges of attempting to polarise voters ahead of the Assembly elections.

The complaint was filed by Haji Mohammad Parvez Siddiqui, national president of the Rashtriya Alpsankhyak

Aarakshan Morcha, who accused Kabir of making statements tantamount to communal provocation and seeking to influence the electoral climate through religious polarisation.

Siddiqui alleged that Kabir was trying to engineer a division of votes “for money” and demanded his immediate arrest after registering an FIR.

Referring to a video clip that has recently circulated on social media, the complainant claimed Kabir was heard saying that the Babri Masjid was not his real political objective, and that he was instead contesting the election after striking a Rs 1,000-crore deal with a political force, indirectly helping what Siddiqui described as “fascist forces”. He has stated in his complaint that Babri

Masjid is a symbol of faith for Muslims in this country, and the comments made by Kabir have deeply hurt the sentiments of the community.

Kabir, however, dismissed the allegations as a pre-poll conspiracy orchestrated by the Trinamool Congress.

“This is entirely Trinamool’s design. Ahead of the election, its strategists have brought in some hired people from Delhi to confuse Muslim voters.

They are roaming around using the title of ‘Haji’ and spreading canards against me,” Kabir said.

He also claimed that the same complainant had earlier filed a similar case against him at Rejinagar Police Station in Murshidabad, and asserted that he was not taking the latest complaint seriously.

Kabir said he would not seek anticipatory bail, maintaining that “the law will take its own course”.

The Suri case is the third police complaint against Kabir in recent days. Cases had earlier been filed against him at the Maidan Police Station in Kolkata and the Rejinagar Police Station.